Clarence e



C. E. MOUNTFORD.

SEAMLESS CHAIN AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING THE SAME.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.2 1911. RENEWED NOV. 22. 1919.

1,313,949. Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

ATTORNEYS I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE E. MOUNTFOBD, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR O]? ONE-HALF '10LOUIS MAISHEB, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

snmmss mm AND METHOD or consraucme 'rnn sum.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 2 1919.

application filed December 21, 1917, Serial No. 208,239. RenewedNovember 22, 1918. Serial No. 283,778.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CLARENCE E. MOUNT- ronn,a subject of Great Britain, residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kingsand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Seamless Chains and Methods of Constructing the Same, of which thefollowin is a specification.

My invention re ates to a seamless, sol- 10 derless chain and especiallyto the kind of chain which is used in jewelry and for other ornamentaland useful work.

Chains have been used in jewelry for a reat many years. They have beenmanuactured of links whose ends were fastened together by means ofsolder. The customary method of making these chains by automatic machineor b hand, was to form them of a suitable wire having a core of solder.

When the links had been formed and their ends pressed together, theseends would be heated so that the solder would unite and thus completethe link. This soldering operation and the special construction of thewire before mentioned, made the soldered chain quite expensive, andbesides, chains of this kind were always weak at the soldered portion sothat the links would give way at this point and require troublesome andexpensive repairs. The chain was further weakened because of the soldercore, and the heat re uired for the manufacture.

Theo ject of my invention is to rovide a new and improved seamless chainfor jewelry and other fine work, as well as a heavy duty chain, whichshall be seamless, present a very fine and neat appearance, and whichcannot be ruptured .or broken without breaking the material itself,which'will not break, even though one link be ruptured.

Another object of my invention is to provide the chain which can beconstructed of round wire. I also provide a new and improved method forconstructing the improved chain before mentioned.

Other objects of my invention shall be set forth in the following descrition and drawings, which illustrate one em odiment of my improved chain,and also set forth a method 60 of constructing it.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the blank from which a link is formed.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the blank after the first operation hasbeen erformed.

55 Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2.

.of round wire 1 is taken. The ends 0 this round wire 1 are flattened orstamped out by means of suitable dies, and these flattened' endsare'simultaneousl perforated so as to produce a shank 2 and e es 3 and4, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. ese eyes 3 and are of half the thicknessof the shank 2 which is of the same thickness as the original w re 1,leaving rounded shoulders 5 and 76 6 which are curved and inclined inopposlte directions from their respective eyes. The face of each eyeadjacent lts respective shoulder is stamped flat and the other face isstamped round, the contour being such 80 that when the eyes 3 and 4 aresuperposed as shown in Fig. 4, and the flat face of eye 3 is adjacentand touches the flat face of the eye 4, the combined contour of the eyes3 and 4 shall be of continuous curvature and be of substantially thesame curvature as the shank 2. When the eyes 3 and 4 are superposed, theshoulders 5 and 6 also fit snugly against each other so as to give aneat and finished effect. To form the link in this embodiment, the shank2 is bent in a plane parallel to the flat faces of eyes 3 and 4, untilthe eye 3 registers with the eye .4, thus forming the link shown in Fig.4.

As seen in Fig. 5, the perforations of the 96 eyes 3 and 4 are ofsubstantially the same diameter as that of the wire 1, which is, ofcourse, the same as that of the shank 2.

To form the next link, a new blank 1 is thrust through the superposedeyes 3 and 4 100 of thefirst link formed, and then new eyes 3 and 4 ofexactly the same contour as those made of the'first link, are stampedout in exactly the same manner.

The second link is then formed b bending the shank 2 in the manner beore described, and as this method is continued, a chain of any number oflinks can be formed.

The eyes 3 and 4 are of greater diameter than the openings therein, sothat, as seen in Fig. 6, it is impossible to pull any link out of thepreceding ones without rupturing the material in at least two of theweakest places.

While I have shown in the drawmg a certain proportion or relative slzeof the bent shanks 2 and the eyes 3 and 4, it is obvious that theserelative sizes may be varied according to taste. Thus, for example, thelength of the bent shank 2 may be made exactly the same as the length ordiameter of the eyes 3, so as to produce an effect ofuniform size. Anyother ornamental shape, such as oval or diamond, can be used.

The chain as above described, when made in small sizes, presents a veryneat and ornamental appearance, and it is impossible to determine theconstruction or to perceive any lines ofjoining by the naked eye. It canbe made quickly and cheaply in an automatic manner and by automaticmachinery of various kinds, and is far superior in strength toany of thesoldered chains before made, as Well as being much cheaper. This isbecause it is made of a solid material instead of being filled with softsolder-core, and it does not become annealed or softened, since thesoldering is eliminated, and the swaging hardens and strengthens themetal. No special blanks need be stamped out as the construction isbased solely upon the use of the round wire which is well-known to thetrade. The words wire and blanks, as used throughout this specification,have the same significance.

I have not illustrated the dies which are used for stamping out andperforating the eyes, as these are well known, and considered asseparate elements, form no part of my invention, but are Within thecomprehension of any person skilled in the art.

I have shown one method of forming the chains and one structure thereof,but I do not desire to be limited thereto, as changes and omissions canbe made witnout departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: V

1. A method of forming a link of a chain which consists in stamping eyesat the ends of a blank, the said eyes being flattened to substantiallyhalf the thickness of the shank left between them so as to formshoulders of substantially half the thickness of the said shank, thesaid shoulders being of like contour and located on opposite sides ofthe said shank, and then bending the said shank in a plane parallel tothe said eyes until the said eyes are superposed.

2. A method of forming and joining a am le plurality of links on a chainwhich consists in stamping eyes at the ends of a blank,

the said eyes being flattened to substantially half the thickness of theshank left between them so as to form shoulders of substantially halfthe thickness of the said shank, and said shoulders bein of like contourand located on opposite si es of the said shank, and then bending thesaid shank in a plane parallel to the said eyes until the said eyes aresuperposed, then pushing a second piece of wire through the perforationsof the said eyes and then forming a second link out of the secondmentioned piece of wire in a manner identical with used for forming thefirst mentioned 1n 3. A method of forming the link of a chain whichconsists in stamping eyes at the ends of a blank, the said eyes'being ofsubstantially half the thickness of the shank formed between them, sothat shoulders of substantially half the thickness of said shank areformed, the said shoulders being adjacent opposite sides of the saidshank, the faces of said eyes adjacent said shoulders being fiat and theopposite faces of said eyes having a curvature identical with that ofthe shank, and bending the same shank in a plane parallel to the beforementioned flat faces until the said eyes are superposed.

4. A chain link comprising a bent shank having an eye at each end, saideyes being superposed, the said eyes being of substantially half thethickness of said shank and being located at opposite sides of the saidshank.

5. A chain link consisting of a bent shank having eyes at each endthereof, the said eyes being superposed and being of substantially halfthe thickness of the said shank so as to leave shoulders ofsubstantially the same thickness, the said eyes be ing adjacent oppositesides of the said shank, the adjacent faces of the said eyes being flatand their opposite faces having the same curvature as the said shank.

6. A chain link comprising a bent shank having an eye at each end, saideyes being superposed, the combined thickness of the said superposedeyes being substantially equal to that of the shank, and the combinedcurvature of the superposed eyes being substantially the same as thecurvature of the said shank.

In testimony signature.

whereof I hereunto aflix my

